Episode 444 - CM Punk

WTF Podcast

Episode 444 - CM Punk

Mon, November 18, 2013

CM Punk’s fans know him as The Best In The World and his status as one of the top stars in professional wrestling backs up that claim. He joins Marc in the garage to talk about his unorthodox rise to the pinnacle of his profession, the moment of total honesty that changed his career, and why he shares Marc’s loathing for preparation. This episode is sponsored by Stamps.com. Click on the radio mic and enter WTF to start a no-risk trial with a $110 bonus offer.

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If you’re both equally a face and a heel you’re a tweener. You should get Paul Heyman on the show if you want someone else from the wrestling world.

Steve November 18, 2013 at 11:59 am

I’m not sure why people have this hang up on wrestling with the issue of whether or not it’s real. Nobody has that with any other form of entertainment. They can suspend disbelief with sci fi movies, sitcoms, Walking Dead and everything else but not wrestling. Don’t get it.

Beelzebud November 18, 2013 at 1:11 pm

Steve, I think it has to do with the fact that in the 80’s pretty much all wrestlers insisted nothing was faked.

Crew Spence November 18, 2013 at 7:19 pm

This was my first time listening to the show. I am a former wrestler out of Cleveland. I got a chance to work on some shows with Punk like 11 years ago. He’s a class act. I found out about your show because he was on it.

I enjoyed the show! Glad I listened.

Josh November 18, 2013 at 8:13 pm

Fantastic interview, I loved every minute of it. Thank you for a truly awesome podcast!

Interesting interview. I now appreciate wrestling as performance art, but it’s a ruthless and sad business. WTF has humanized WWE by showing me what’s behind the curtain. Thanks

Jon November 19, 2013 at 8:34 am

Fantastic interview as the world of professional wrestling is quite fascinating despite it being a brutal and quite often sad industry. If you want to talk about the state of pro wrestling today, Punk was definitely the right guy to have talk about it. I have only seen a handful of his matches via YouTube but he is an incredible talent in the ring.

Kelly November 19, 2013 at 4:01 pm

I think the thing that folks should understand is that those of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s honestly didn’t know whether it was fake or not. As CM Punk points out, there were tons of different circuits, no internet and no real way to compare notes. As kids we suspected, but no one really admitted it until the rise of the WWF and WWE in the 90s.
My dad was a car salesman and he sold one in the 70s to a Canadian wrestler (working in Texas) named Joe Leduc. We used to go down to the Cow Palace and watch the matches for free as a favor from Mr. Leduc. He took me backstage one time and had me shake Andre the Giant’s hand. I still treasure that moment.
I haven’t watched wrestling in many years, but this was a riveting interview. Nice work Mr. Maron. Perhaps I’ll give CM Punk a look-see.

Paul November 19, 2013 at 6:39 pm

@ Steve -
I think the inability to suspend disbelief (in wrestling, its called ‘kayfabe’) is because wrestling started as shoot fighting, “legitimate” wrestling matches. Then when TV came along it had to get a little hipper, and they started taking a more carney mentality of putting on a good show.

But even to this day, pro wrestling is regulated in may places by the state athletic commissions, the same bodies that oversee boxing and MMA.

There’s also the fact that other forms of entertainment like TV and movies aren’t as accessible as wrestling. You can only watch TV on TV, so the separation between Neil Patrick Harris and Barney Stinson is a little bit easier to make for most. But you can go to a wrestling show and jaw jack with your favorite heel.

Either way, listening to a shoot interview conducted by a non-wrestling-fan was fucking fascinating. Well done, Mark. And kudos to Punker for being so open about his real life.

Paul November 19, 2013 at 6:43 pm

I feel like a douche for misspelling your name, Marc. I will spend the rest of the evening in quiet retrospection and self flagellation to make amends.

Bruce November 20, 2013 at 4:02 am

What a fucking interview, wow. Can’t wait for part 2 whenever it does actually happen.

Keep up the good work Marc, we love you.

Joe November 25, 2013 at 10:37 pm

I used to watch a lot of wrestling back in the day but grew out of it. But back in the day, there was the NWO guys and Stone Cold Steve Austin that invented the outsider, screw the authority types of characters in wrestling. CM Punk is just the next installment of that.

jim November 28, 2013 at 12:05 pm

His best friend Colt didn’t last long, so is he a “pussy”. I cant’ stand Punk sometimes. Sometimes guys get let go for a variety of reasons. Oh and you can be a “pussy” and last a long time.

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